


today when persimmons ripen

by Fluffypanda



Series: today when... [1]
Category: Marvel Ultimates
Genre: Alcohol, Butt Plugs, Concubine AU, Dubious Consent, Dubious Morality, Explicit Sexual Content, Historical Fantasy, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Rough Sex, Sexual Slavery, Ults Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 10:08:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12386025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda
Summary: The newly crowned ruler of Illyra sends Prince Steven a gift: his brother.





	today when persimmons ripen

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Ults day! (16.10) It’s also a fill for [a prompt](https://cap-ironman.dreamwidth.org/1755776.html?thread=13517952#cmt13517952) from the stevetony kinkmeme. 
> 
> A great thanks to [erawebuilt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/erawebuilt/pseuds/erawebuilt) for beta-ing.
> 
> Consent is a bit murky in this one, hence the dub-con tag, more details in the end note.
> 
> Update 1/28/18: I expanded the sex scene a little bit so it flows better!

Steve’s horse, a normally spirited chestnut stallion, plodded through the tall stone gates to the Federation’s capital. The horse heaved great puffs of air, visible in the chill winter air. Hooves clopped along the cobblestone pavement, bringing Steve deeper into the city’s winding roads, aiming for one destination only: the Palace.

By contrast, Steve sat tall in his saddle, scanning the area as if battle could erupt any moment. With the mountain passes snowed in, the near constant raids from Melat would stop, at least until well into the spring, but his nerves were frayed thin from a long season of fighting at the border. The tension wouldn’t completely leave his shoulders for weeks, but a bath would be a good start.

A few people stopped to watch the return of one of their princes, but royalty from every one of the Federation’s principalities traveled these streets to reach the Palace, so he was largely left in peace. Even that attention tapered off with each section of the city Steve passed through. Honestly, Steve preferred that to the attention he attracted visiting villages in the far-flung reaches of Eulim.

At last, Steve reached the Palace and its ever-white walls. A boy in page’s garb waited for him just inside the gate. He trailed Steve to the stable. “Your Highness, Prince Steven, the High Councilman wishes to see you right away!”

“Fury can wait,” Steve said as he dismounted, handing his reins to a stable hand.

“But sir!” the page squeaked, coming around to block Steve’s path.

Steve dodged him, briskly heading into the Palace proper, through the halls, and up the stairs to the Hyasurian royal apartments. He didn’t wait to see if the page was following him. The last person he wanted to deal with at the moment was Fury.

Steve sped up a little at the sight of those familiar doors, carved with Hyasur’s crest, a star held up by two lions. He could already picture his bath filled with steaming water; with any luck, it’d be waiting for him already prepared. No sooner was he inside the door before he was disrobing, unbuttoning his riding coat and loosening the ties on his vest as he kicked off his boots.

Crossing the threshold into his bed chambers, Steve paused.

A man, olive-skinned and dark-haired like the people who live along the Lerusian Sea, lounged nude on Steve’s bed, his body dripping with gold and jewels. Chains of rubies and diamonds cascaded through his short black hair and off the golden shackles on his wrists and ankles. A thick gold collar encircled his throat, trailed by an intricate lattice of gold and pearls that tumbled down his chest. It hung just so, centering a huge sapphire in between dusky nipples. Below, the lattice work attached to the interlocking bands of gold that sheathed his cock. Each band was studded with a ruby, leading the eye up the ridge to the uncommonly large pearl nestled in the tip.

Steve stared open-mouthed, his mind completely unable to make sense of the scene before him. It was the most lascivious thing Steve had ever seen and wholly unexpected. The only thing more lascivious was the way the man looked at _him_. That lingering gaze roamed over every part of Steve, taking him in like Steve was food and he was starving.

“Fury told me you were handsome, but I didn’t believe him,” the man said, his plush lips curled as if he were laughing.

Steve blinked, once then twice at the comment. His expression turned thunderous as at last he pulled some thread of understanding from the situation. He spun around and marched out the door, barely taking the time to pull his boots back on.

 

=

                

It took all of Steve’s control to shut the door to the council chamber quietly behind him. Any thought of unwinding was far behind him now. The High Councilman was indeed waiting for him in the swishing black robes of his office, likely having received word of Steve’s arrival just as he reached the main gates.

“Care to explain the—the—” Steve couldn’t think of a polite word to describe the man in his apartments, so on display, so dangerous.

“ _Meretrix_ in your rooms?” Fury said, amusement twinkling in his eye.

Steve nodded, recognizing the Illyran word. It was as good as any for someone dressed like that.

“While you were out on the front, we sealed a treaty with the Kingdom of Illyra,” Fury said as he sat down in his usual chair. The room was oddly empty without the other members, the Princes and Princesses of the Federation, occupying their seats at the table and their staff bustling around the corners of the room. “He’s a gift in honor of that, one that would be disastrously rude to refuse.”

Steve ignored the chair Fury offered him, buzzing with too much tension to sit down. “I don’t recall King Howard being the type to curry favor with gifts.”

“Yes, well King Howard passed away rather suddenly before the treaty was finalized. His son and heir, Gregory, is a damn nightmare, completely amoral and probably the smartest man you’ll ever meet.”

Fury’s crass language, though perhaps unsuitable for a councilman, was nothing unusual, but the way he smiled when he said it put Steve off. He couldn’t be certain what Fury was planning. Fury could be trusted to further the Federation’s interests, but little else. Steve suspected that Fury wouldn’t even blink at deposing a prince if he thought it was for the good of the Federation as a whole.

“He was ready to break off negotiations and go to Melat instead,” Fury continued, either unaware of or unconcerned by Steve’s unease. “Thankfully, he saw his way to keeping the terms of the treaty as negotiated by his predecessor, for the most part. He sealed the deal by gifting you Prince Antonio as your concubine.”

“Prince Antonio? Antonio Stark?” Steve echoed in shock. That man was the new king’s brother? He and Princess Natasha had been betrothed for quite some time; surely their marriage would have been sufficient to seal the treaty. By all reports, Antonio Stark was smitten with the Eulim princess. “Why make him my concubine?”

Fury leaned back in his chair and asked, “Is it really such a surprise? You’re one of Eulim’s Princes, the Federation’s most respected military commander, and rather famously unwed to boot.”

Steve looked away at the unfortunate reminder, and paced toward the windows. He tried not to think about Gail marrying Bucky while Steve was lost at sea. He didn’t blame them, he’d been presumed dead for more than a few years before he made it back, but he couldn’t say it didn’t hurt. And it seemed like every damn person in the world had heard about it.

Looking back at Fury, Steve said, “That’s not all, is it? Why not marry him to Princess Natasha like originally planned?”

“As far as I can tell, he wants Antonio out of the way and not in any sort of position of power.”

“Getting rid of the competition?” Steve knew power struggles between royal brothers were common, but he could hardly picture it. Douglas had been a distant, yet kind brother. When Steve returned to find him and his family dead due to illness, Steve mourned him rather than rejoiced for a chance to ascend the throne.

Fury shrugged. “There are bloodier ways to do it.”

“I’m not sure I appreciate the implication,” Steve grumbled, his mouth twisting into a sneer. “What makes them think I’d touch a man?”

“King Gregory is no doubt aware we don’t share their proclivities, but it hardly matters. He sent our premier military commander his brother draped in a small country's treasury worth of jewels, and that says something.”

“So you think he’s trying to send a message? To who?”

“To his people? To his enemies? I don’t know, but what I do know is that we don’t want to be on the wrong side of this.” Fury looked up at Steve, one eyebrow cocked. “Think you are up to the challenge?”

Steve stayed silent, arms crossed.

Fury sighed. “Look, you don’t have to fuck the man, just keep him around for a while to show that the gift is appreciated. Then, you can shunt him off to wherever you want.”

Steve gripped the back of a nearby chair hard enough to hear it creak, his mouth pressed into a deep frown. Playing politics was Steve’s least favorite thing, given the choice he’d stay out of it altogether, but it was part of his life now. “Don’t accept gifts on my behalf ever again.”

 

=

 

Steve once more climbed the stairs to his apartments in slow thumping steps with a scowl plastered across his face. He didn’t want a concubine, much less a male one. Antonio Stark’s reputation was so notorious that even Steve had heard the rumors from the other side of the ocean.

Numerous stories testified to the man’s recklessness and irresponsibility, that he was a drunkard that slept with anything that moved, regardless of gender. It was little wonder that his kingdom was eager to pass him off for someone else to deal with. Steve just wished it hadn’t been him.

At the top of the stairs, he ran his fingers through his hair with a forced sigh before rounding the corner into his apartments. The past few days, months, were catching up to him. His nerves felt scraped raw; like he’d been tossed a lifeline and now needed to cling tight or be swept away.

Perhaps he was being too hard on Stark. It couldn’t be easy to lose his father and status in one fell swoop. Now he’d been sent off across the sea to service another country’s prince. If it were Steve in Stark’s position, he would already be punching his way out.

Steve pushed open the door to his bedroom, half-expecting to find Stark gone. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of Stark splayed over a chair by the fire, helping himself to a bottle of wine. From the door, Steve could see everything: Stark’s jewelry removed and left in a pile on the floor, his skin turning ruddy from the heat of the fire, his half-erect cock resting against his open thighs.

“Ah, my master has returned,” Stark said with a wave of his goblet.

Steve’s lip curled back in a disgusted sneer. Stark somehow managed to make the word master sound both incompletely disrespectful and entirely genuine.  It left a bad taste in Steve’s mouth, bitter and chalky. This wasn’t Steve’s choice, he’d just as soon let Stark get on with his life.

“Don’t call me that.”

“What would you like me to call you, darling?” Stark’s words dripped with honey as he blinked up at Steve. Suddenly, Steve felt entrapped by those blue eyes, stranded at sea.

Steve pulled his eyes away from Stark to gaze into the roaring flames instead. “Just don’t. I’ll arrange a place for you at my estate, find you some work,” Steve said, doubting that Stark ever worked a day in his life. “You’ll never have to see me again, provided you behave yourself. Until then—”

A surprisingly strong hand, rough and calloused, gripped Steve’s wrist, cutting off his words. “What if I don’t?” Stark said, his thumb rubbing the pulse point and sparking something deep in Steve’s gut.

“What if you don’t what?” Steve asked a little dumbly.

“Behave myself,” he said, swallowing down another mouthful of wine, his throat bobbing underneath the golden collar that still graced his neck. His eyes intent on Steve, Tony licked the last of the wine from his lips as rose from his chair. “What are you going to do then?”

“Stark—“

“Call me Tony, darling.” There was hardly any space between them now.

Stark’s—Tony’s hands wound around Steve, sliding up his back until their warm weight pressed into his shoulders. Tony’s breath puffed in his face as those hands stroked the tense muscles there, unraveling Steve. Warmth was building in Steve, spreading outward.

Dazed and not quite sure what was happening, Steve let Tony‘s hands roam across his body, a palm pressing into his chest, a thumb digging into his hip, fingers trailing over where his cock lied beneath his clothes. Steve shivered and reveled in the contact, in Tony touching him in ways he hadn’t been touched in so long.

A certain kind of madness grew under every caress, every push, every touch of Tony’s hands, a wildfire that was ready to consume all thought. Then the touches stopped, leaving Steve unsteady on his feet. All it took was a gentle tug on the front of his shirt and Steve staggered over to the bed under Tony’s direction.

Tony halted at the foot of the bed and looked back over his shoulder, drowning Steve in those stormy blue eyes again. This man was dangerous. Steve’s skin still hungered for the touch of those coarse hands, having been given a taste of what he’d been missing all this time.

Something snapped and Steve pushed Tony forward on to the bed, so that he landed on his stomach. Tony twisted around to look back at him, those eyes sparkling sapphire-bright with desire. Below, something the same shade of blue glinted between his ass cheeks, one more bit of treasure made to tempt Steve. Steve’s knees hit the bed beside Tony with a soft thump, and Tony reared up to kiss him, his hands at the ties of Steve’s pants.

The kiss was easy, honey-sweet despite the bitter edge of wine, like the _hachiya_ fruit Steve tasted on a distant shore. Pulling Steve’s dripping hard cock out from the confines of his clothes, Tony gradually deepened the kiss with soft licks, encouraging Steve’s lips part on their own. When they did, Tony took him rougher, deeper, until the painful scrape of Tony’s beard jolted Steve back to reality.

Recoiling in shock and confusion, Steve broke off the kiss, making Tony gasp. “Darling?” Steve didn’t like it, he didn’t, but the wildfire raged on, demanding more. “Don’t sto—”

Steve fed the fire, pushing Tony down into the bed so he wouldn’t have to look in those eyes, see those kiss-reddened lips and feel his own tingle in response, and climbed on top of him.

Steve kept his hand on Tony’s head, pressing it into the sheets while he rubbed his cock across Tony’s ass. Something made Steve licked a stripe up Tony’s back to taste the rich saltiness of his skin, until his tongue hit the collar. He laved it frantically, occasionally nipping the skin beneath. Tony moaned and ground his ass back into Steve.

A few passes over that firm, yet supple skin told Steve it wouldn’t be enough. He blindly slid his other hand down Tony’s ass until he found what he was looking for. The sapphire studded handle was warm with body heat and connected to a much larger object inside. Tony’s muffled moans grew louder as Steve toyed with it, swirling it around inside him, pulling it out and plunging it back in.

Tony’s body trembling beneath him stoked the flames higher, and Steve was losing patience. He hauled Tony’s backend up and kicked his knees open before pulling the object free with a ‘pop’ and tossing it aside.

Tony’s ass was left slick and open for Steve, undoubtedly prepared for his pleasure. Steve pictured Tony’s flashing blue eyes as he worked himself open for Steve and had to take a deep, steadying breath, pushing away the sound of waves and recalling the heat of the wildfire.

Back on even footing, he wasted no time driving his cock home and burying himself deep inside. Tony shouted into the sheets, writhing at the intrusion, but Steve held him in place as he withdrew until only the tip of his cock rested inside then forcefully thrust back in.

Tony simply clawed at the mattress as if looking for purchase before being burned up. Steve’s fire urged him ever faster as he continued his relentless pounding. Lost in the sensation of Tony clenched around him, each snap of his hips sent him closer to the edge, his breathing heavy.

Steve came with a groan, shuddering through a few more pumps of his cock in Tony’s ass until he was spent. Pulling out roughly, Steve rolled off of Tony, boneless with release.

He turned his head to look at Tony across the mattress. The string of drool caught in his beard, the kiss marks littering his neck, and the glazed look in his eyes left no doubt what he’d been up to, if Steve’s come trickling from his ass didn’t give it away.

“Well done, darling,” Tony mumbled, his mouth slack. “I don’t think anybody’s ever fucked me quite that hard.”

“Shut up,” Steve snarled, turning over so he didn’t have to look at him.

Steve’s stomach churned, hyper-aware of the man on the bed behind him. This wasn’t supposed to happen; he liked women. Maybe he didn’t go looking for them as often as some of his men, but he’d slept with both Gail and Jan.

It was a lapse in judgement, that’s all, an understandable one even. The last time with Jan had been ages ago, long before he’d left for the border. Just being presented a warm willing body, of course he got a bit carried away. It wasn’t all that different from sleeping with a woman. Steve relaxed a little at the thought and let the post-coital exhaustion pull him down.

“It won’t happen again,” Steve promised his pillow, before drifting off completely.

**Author's Note:**

> Tony is given to Steve as his concubine, he isn't too upset about it, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Also Steve doesn't check to see if Tony is okay with being treated roughly, including having his face pressed into the mattress, but it is implied later that he didn't mind.  
> Steve is very staunchly in denial of any attraction to Tony and although he doesn't object to Tony's advances, or to fucking him into the mattress, he regrets it later.
> 
>  ~~I might write a sequel at some point, though not anytime soon.~~ I've started a sequel! Showing me your love for this work will give me the extra boost of confidence I need to finish it!


End file.
